Specialty ETFs

Here is the ETF Professor's ETF Watch List for Monday February 13, 2012. Pullback plays: ProShares Ultra QQQ (NYSE: QQQ) and the ProShares UltraShort S&P500 (NYSE: SDS). The Market Vectors Coal ETF (NYSE: KOL) is looking a tad vulnerable. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (Nasdaq: IBB)...

VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short Term ETN (NYSEARCA: TVIX) spiked 17.04% on Friday, and it closed at $19.05. This was the fourth trading session in a row that TVIX closed higher. Direxion Daily Emerging Markets Bear 3x Shares(ETF) (NYSEARCA: EDZ) jumped 6.48% as Petroleo Brasileiro SA (ADR) (...

Here we are nearly two months into 2012 and we're still talking about Greece. Stalled negotiations regarding a bailout package for the "G" in oft-used and notorious PIIGS acronym led to some panic selling at the open today. The totals weren't as bad at the close as they were in the morning, but...

Emerging markets are selling at relatively cheap valuations, it seems to me, and the low valuations of many of the stocks and indexes seem more about fear than about the downside revisions that are happening in GDP. Many emerging markets indexes and ETFs are selling at about 10 times earnings,...

Nearly a year ago to the day we highlighted some ETFs even the most conservative investors could embrace. That version of Grandpa's ETF Portfolio probably didn't catch anyone by surprise. After all, it featured a mix of income plays, one of the biggest ETFs on the market tracking value stocks and...

The reasons are plentiful regarding why investors and even active traders should tread carefully with leveraged and inverse ETFs but if today's market pullback sticks around for a while, the utility of these ETFs (when properly used) has the potential to shine. Inverse ETFs are probably the best...

Chinese imports plummeted during the month of January, signaling that the rapid economic growth of the world's second biggest economy might be slowing down. Chinese imports dropped 15.3% in January, compared to the same month last year, while exports fell by just 0.5%. The sudden drop in imports...

Here is the ETF Professor's ETF Watch List for Friday February 10, 2012. Play a little defense with the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLV). The ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas (NYSE: DUG) is worth a look for a day. Earnings plays: SPDR S&P International Energy ETF (NYSE: IPW) and...

VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short Term ETN (NYSEARCA: TVIX) continued to trade higher on Thursday. TVIX spiked 9.86%, and this was the third consecutive trading session that it closed higher. Claymore/MAC Global Solar Index (ETF) (NYSEARCA: TAN) gained 8.05%, and it closed at $3.76. In the solar...

Here's a headline that should mean good news: "Greek leaders agree to new spending cuts in bid to avert default." That came courtesy of the Los Angeles Times earlier today. Hopefully, those words prove accurate and Greece will really be able to skirt default. Then again, the market has been down...